The 50 best movie villains of all time

Go to the dark side with our ranked list of evildoers.

By David Fear, Joshua Rothkopf and Keith Uhlich Mon Oct 24 2011

Movie villains: Click to the next image to see our 50 best movie villains of all time
Movie villains: Dean Wormer, National Lampoon's Animal House (1978)
Movie villains: Cobra Kai Sensei, The Karate Kid (1984)
Movie villains: Roy Batty, Blade Runner (1982)
Movie villains: Asami Yamazaki, Audition (1999)
Movie villains: Hank Quinlan, Touch of Evil (1958)
Movie villains: Tommy DeVito, Goodfellas (1990)
Movie villains: Lord Voldemort, The Harry Potter movies (2005–11)
Movie villains: Baby Jane Hudson, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
Movie villains: Colonel Kurtz, Apocalypse Now (1979)
Movie villains: Lars Thorwald, Rear Window (1954)

Movie villains: Click to the next image to see our 50 best movie villains of all time

Do we love our scoundrels more than our saints? Certainly at this time of year, with Halloween just around the corner, we do. Then again, this collection of baddies boasts a stunning eight Oscar victories (and a couple more if you allow for special-effects wins). In considering the worst of the worst, TONY's Team Film was careful to sift out contenders who were merely antiheroes: Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle, for example, is too well-intentioned. Instead, we went for true terribleness. Whatever you do, just keep telling yourself: It's only a list, it's only a list. And if we forgot your favorite heel, get mean with us in the comments.

Dean Wormer, National Lampoon's Animal House (1978)

"The time has come for someone to put his foot down—and that foot is me," John Vernon's dastardly dean declares. This nincompoop head of Faber College took impotent authority figures to a new level, making him the ideal foil for the Deltas. He exemplifies gross-out comedy's golden rule: The more smug you are, the more likely you'll be vomited upon.—David Fear

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Cobra Kai Sensei, The Karate Kid (1984)

Fine, so he might not be all the way up there in the pantheon of evil, but this character definitely haunted our nightmares. Mercy and honor are mere playthings to him, as he firmly tells Daniel-san's opponent to "sweep the leg." Actor Martin Kove's squashed features add unsavoriness.—Joshua Rothkopf

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Roy Batty, Blade Runner (1982)

The bleached-blond replicant of Ridley Scott's milestone sci-fi thriller is nearly unstoppable—poking out eyeballs, head-butting walls and reducing Harrison Ford's hard-boiled cop to a quivering, broken-fingered mess. But there's more to this bad guy than seething menace; the great Rutger Hauer invests him with a wide-eyed soulfulness that ultimately breaks your heart.—Keith Uhlich

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Asami Yamazaki, Audition (1999)

Everyone knows actors are crazy, but our hero can't have expected this level of limb-slicing extremity. To be fair, he's holding a fake casting call just to meet chicks—a move that would infuriate anyone. But after deceptively meek Asami (Eihi Shiina) shows up, this is one player who's about to get a forcible re-edit.—Joshua Rothkopf

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Hank Quinlan, Touch of Evil (1958)

Though he'd eventually resemble a mountain with a tiny head on top, Orson Welles actually added belly padding and pounds of makeup to play the corrupt cop of his noir classic, a lawman with no qualms about planting evidence, wandering out of his jurisdiction and even raising his cane on occasion.—Joshua Rothkopf

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Tommy DeVito, Goodfellas (1990)

Joe Pesci took home Oscar gold for his firecracker portrayal of a short-tempered gangster in Martin Scorsese's thrilling Mafia drama. The character always wants to be the center of attention, but it's what he does when all eyes are on him—those uncomfortably drawn out am-I-fucking-with-you-or-not? pauses—that assures his place in the scoundrels' pantheon.—Keith Uhlich

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Lord Voldemort, The Harry Potter movies (2005–11)

From his serpentine face (the missing nose is a perfect touch) to the bone-chilling way he hisses his arch-nemesis's name—"Haaa-ryyy Pahhh-ter!"—Ralph Fiennes turned J.K. Rowling's fallen wizard into the personification of that old black magic. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named doesn't really need a moniker; he simply answers to evil.—David Fear

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Baby Jane Hudson, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

Bette Davis throws subtlety to the wind in the flamboyant title role of this aging-starlet standard. Her psycho former child actor sticks in your mind not only for her memorably schizoid outbursts (parakeets, beware), but for the ferocious way Davis battles costar and real-life archenemy Joan Crawford for the spotlight.—Keith Uhlich

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Colonel Kurtz, Apocalypse Now (1979)

Lording over a compound of Montagnard mercenaries like some demented slaveowner, Brando's bald, batshit colonel one-upped Joseph Conrad's conception of Kurtz as a mere colonialist run amok; you believe this guy actually possesses a heart of darkness. Whether reading T.S. Eliot aloud or decapitating soldiers, this military madman truly communicates the horror of Vietnam.—David Fear

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Lars Thorwald, Rear Window (1954)

He sits in his darkened apartment, smoking a cigarette. Outside in the courtyard, a neighbor wails about her dead dog. And across the way, two more observers know that Lars (an unusually subtle Raymond Burr) is up to far more than offing pets. Alfred Hitchcock's brilliant thriller simply wouldn't work without a stone-cold killer.—Joshua Rothkopf

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(14 ratings)

I think joker played by the late heath ledger should be number 1 villian, fender from cyborg, denzel from training day...

josh Tue Jul 17 2012
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I would have liked to see Amon Goeth from "Schindler's List". Not THE best villain, but definitely in the top 5, no doubt. Also, Alex DeLarge from "A Clockwork Orange".

Ford Mon Jul 16 2012
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Gonna have to agree (mostly) with Sean here. There's no way the Joker (Late Heath Ledger's reincarnation of Batman's fabled foe) doesn't make this list. I'll still argue with you that good old Darth Vader has always been, and probably will always be the quintessential movie villain. But Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker in 'The Dark Knight" was one of the most manacle, sadistically twisted, and most importantly, BELIEVABLE evil movie villains of all time. On my personal list, he's probably #2. Lets face it guys, Lord Voldemort had problems taking down a couple of pre-teen emo wimps and he supposedly had some of the most powerful dark magic of all time. The Joker was able to bring an entire city to it's knees "with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets." This isn't even a contest. If you want the rest of your list fixed, feel free to send me your salary checks.

Scott Fri Jul 13 2012
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No only is The Joker not #1, but he's not even on the list? WTF?!?

Sean Thu Jul 12 2012
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no joker??? u gotta be kidding me.

arif Mon Jul 9 2012
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Some other enjoyable villains not yet mentioned: In the Line of Fire (John Malkovich), The Little Foxes (Bette Davis), The Third Man (Orson Welles), The Sweet Smell of Success (Burt Lancaster), Godfather Part II (Al Pacino), White Heat (James Cagney), Shadow of a Doubt (Joseph Cotten), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin), Sling Blade (Dwight Yoakam), There Will Be Blood (Daniel Day-Lewis), Strangers on a Train (Robert Walker), The Invisible Man (Claude Rains), Zoolander (Will Farrell), Metropolis (Brigitte Helm as "robot" Maria)

DanM Sat Jul 7 2012
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Freddy Krueger should be higher upand the Joker should be number 1.

Mello Sat Jul 7 2012
Rated as: 2/5
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Frank Booth is one of my favorite villains. A truly evil character with a murky past.

marv Tue Jul 3 2012
Rated as: 4/5
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worst list!! where's Heath Ledger, The Joker!! Where's John Kremer aka Jigsaw...

pawan Fri Jun 29 2012
Rated as: 1/5
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I can't believe Heath Ledger as the Joker and Jack Nicholson from The Shining isn't on this list...

mikey franchasey Sun Jun 24 2012
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